What's new

Best Cheap Drug Store Razor and Cream?

Can you look on a package of the Wilkinson Protos and see where it is actually manufactured? It looks a lot like a BIC single blade, which are made in France.

I loved Wilkinson Bonded single blade razors. But the real Wilkinson is just a stepchild brand name now.

(BTW, I noticed that "shaving foam" is "mousse" in French. That sounds a whole lot better than the derogatory language used by Americans for canned shaving cream on this site -- goop, etc. So now I call it mousse, which is what it is -- except you can't eat it!)
It says EU and blades made in Germany (Personna, Feintechnik?). I’ve never seen them before and they don’t look like the Bic‘s sold here either.
 
I really appreciate the suggestions guys. I think I am going to try to pick up either a Bic metal or a Bic sensitive depending on what they have at Walgreens. Not quite as sure about the shaving cream because I've had bad luck with barbasol in the past. It's just been too dry for me but I feel pretty good about the razor options.
 
I really appreciate the suggestions guys. I think I am going to try to pick up either a Bic metal or a Bic sensitive depending on what they have at Walgreens. Not quite as sure about the shaving cream because I've had bad luck with barbasol in the past. It's just been too dry for me but I feel pretty good about the razor options.


Dry? Barbasol?

How far in the past? If it was 20 years ago, I agree completely. For some decades, Barbasol was absolutely worthless, horrible, little more than foamy air.

But now it is excellent. However, you MUST ALWAYS shake it for at least 5 - 10 seconds -- same with Equate but more so. Otherwise, the consistency will deteriorate as you use up the can. And discard the stuff (mostly propellant) that comes out at first, which IS dry, the equivalent of the first two or three shaves.

Of course, you should wash your face first and leave it wet when you apply the shaving mousse. And as I suggested, you could put a little glycerin soap under the mousse. When I do this, the Barbasol does not dry out at all over the course of the shave.

Now if this is not enough, try the Barbasol extra moisturizer with lanolin. That is super thick mousse. In fact, you might want to cut it with some water with a bowl and shaving brush.

Walmart's Equate is good, too. There may be other generics of similar quality.

I refuse to buy Gillette's canned mousse because of its excessive amount of Triethanolamine (TEA), which should only be used in fairly small quantities, according to what I've read.

I don't know what happened to turn Barbasol around -- I assume someone bought it and revived the moribund brand. It's worth spending a buck and change to give it a try.
 
Well every canned foam, sorry mousse, contains TEA as do some higher-end shaving creams (e.g. St. James of London, Pall Mall barbers). An EU investigation rendered it safe for use in these products. It is not allowed in medicine when also certain preservatives are used, because of possible interactions that could build nitrosamines.
With Gillette mousse, well besides it's sh*t it also uses BHT which in fact is not that unproblematic.
 
I'm going to show my ignorance here, but I thought Barbasol and Gillette Foamy were basically the same thing. I actually thought all foam in a can was basically the same thing.
 
Cremo and a BIC Metal, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
+1-on this razor recommendation. The Bic metal and sensitive singe-blade disposable razors were a good option for me over the years for short overnight trips. Towards the end of my business traveling days, I packed a Feather Popular DE with a fresh blade in it, a small brush, and an Arko stick all in a quart size baggie- never had a TSA issue with them. Early one, when I needed to travel with suits and dress stuff, carry-on room was sparse. Later on, with a more casual clothing I had enough room to make travel shaves something to look forward to.
 
I'm going to show my ignorance here, but I thought Barbasol and Gillette Foamy were basically the same thing. I actually thought all foam in a can was basically the same thing.

Well, they all use a lot of stearic acid, which is what makes the mousse. But so do some expensive shaving soaps.

Read the ingredients.

Walmart Equate is actually quite good, in that it is not as thick as Barbasol; it should be better with cartridges.

Most of the little stuff they toss in that makes the ingredients list sound good, like herbs, I don't think do anything. But the lanolin in Barbasol extra moisturizer is noticeable. It will coat your sink and razor and face, if you like that. "Wool fat" is the expensive sounding word for lanolin.

What is not in there is a lot of soap to cleanse your face. That's what washing your face is for. Soap can be very irritating when shaving your face.

I get ZERO skin irritation with Barbasol or Equate mousse. I also get no irritation with Vi-John tube shave cream. It's got lots of nice, slick glycerin.

I tried Proraso and some shaving soaps, and got little or no lather, and sometimes irritation. Proraso is mainly water. Olive oil does not belong in shave soap.

So my two main options are Barbasol and Vi-John. I highly suggest trying both.

I'll let you in on a little secret:

Whenever I test a new razor or blade, I always use the same shave cream: Barbasol regular. That way I get consistent results.

And whenever I test a new razor (or shave cream), I always use Laser Ultra triple coated blades. They have been absolutely consistent in quality over the past 10 years. They are a bit above average in sharpness, but not extremely sharp, which would make almost any razor seem good. And they are smooth, so if the shave is bad it is the razor's fault.

Frankly, most of the other blades I use are too sharp and good to use to test razors. The only other option I have is the Gillette-Wilkinson blades, but their quality is not consistent, blade to blade and year to year.

Look, you don't really need a quadruple bypass ultra-BBS shave every day. You don't need to use the world's sharpest blade every day in the world's most aggressive razor with the world's most expensive shave cream.

Sometimes it's nice to have a fast, smooth, no-stress shave. The Laser with Barbasol or Vi-John with a good razor fits the bill. So does a BIC Sensitive single blade disposable, the fast food of shaving.

This is a fun shave. But when I really want to have fun, I do use my super sharp blades.
 
Last edited:
A disposable Bic and some canned Barbasol opened my eyes to DE shaving, way back in 2012. For years I'd used an electric, a Norelco most recently, but forgot to pack it when I bugged out for a hurricane. The shaves were the best I'd had in years. When I got back home I started researching DE shaving, and here I am now. The combo may surprise you.

+1

Barbasol (aloe flavor is my favorite of the bunch) and a single blade Bic disposable. Cheap and to me a pretty good shave. You can toss the pack when you leave with zero regrets on money wasted too. It’s an ideal travel favorite. Runner up for shaving cream is the travel size Gillette foamy. Always treated me well.
 
I really appreciate the suggestions guys. I think I am going to try to pick up either a Bic metal or a Bic sensitive depending on what they have at Walgreens. Not quite as sure about the shaving cream because I've had bad luck with barbasol in the past. It's just been too dry for me but I feel pretty good about the razor options.

I find it dry as well. So I add water a little at a time, building lather the same way I would with a soap or croap. take a brush with you for this.
 
I really appreciate the suggestions guys. I think I am going to try to pick up either a Bic metal or a Bic sensitive depending on what they have at Walgreens. Not quite as sure about the shaving cream because I've had bad luck with barbasol in the past. It's just been too dry for me but I feel pretty good about the razor options.

Try some Cremo. Best non-brush stuff out there. Little spendy for traveling but it won’t disappoint!
 
Just this morning I used Barbasol with aloe for the first time in well over a year and it did fine. I heavily wet my face, applied the foam, and then rubbed in more water. No problems at all.
 
I find it dry as well. So I add water a little at a time, building lather the same way I would with a soap or croap. take a brush with you for this.

Sounds like work.

But I think I understand your point: Barbasol, especially the extra moisturizer, can be a bit thick.

I'm lazy. When I want a wetter lather, I just use Walmart Equate canned shaving mousse. It's just right.
 
Carry on rules mean the razor must be disposable. The Bic Twin select 'sensitive' IMO is one of the best disposables I've ever used. Someone mentioned the Bic Metal. Used to get cut up real bad with that one
 
Absolutely!

A BIC Sensitive single blade disposable razor is amazing. The feel of the shave, the angle of the shave is a lot like a fine DE razor. It is similar to an Old Type, in that you don't need much pressure, but if you apply enough you will get a very close shave, and maybe some nicks. And it doesn't have the swivel head, so you have real control on the face's curves.

The BIC Sensitive is a great transition for someone from octopus cartridges to DE shaving. And it is no sacrifice to substitute this for a DE shave.

Barbasol regular is an excellent shave mousse. The key is to shake it a lot, as in 5-10 seconds. The first few times you use it, the mousse might be kinda dry because of all the gas, so just throw out the stuff that come out first.

Some aficionados complain that shaving mousse is not slick enough. Solution: buy some glycerin soap and put a schmear on your face before the mousse. Problem solved. Also, the Barbasol Extra Moisturizer has lanolin in it, but it is rather dense.

The great thing about Barbasol, or WalMart Equate shaving mousse, is that there is NO SKIN IRRITATION, like some people report from shaving creams and soaps. This is especially true when you are using a first rate blade and razor, including the BIC Sensitive.

Washing your face beforehand with a soap that is non-irritating helps. An excellent choice is Neutrogena, one of the truly great soap bargains. And it lathers, so you could use it as a shaving soap, either lathering with your fingers or a brush. This is important to know because you really shouldn't go carrying canned aerosol shave mousse on a plane, as the propellant is flammable. If you don't believe me, a can and a lighter make a pretty powerful flame thrower!

I don't need to tell most of you about witch hazel. But did you know that witch hazel is a truly amazing topical treatment for mosquito bites? I read about this way back in my college days, and I've been using it ever since. It works. You should splash some on as soon as possible, and the itching will go away quickly. If you have to wait and hour or more, you will need to apply it twice.

These days, some drug stores don't have much fancy shaving supplies, like soaps and DE blades, but surely they will have Barbasol and BIC Sensitive razors. Neutrogena is harder to find. Dove Soap (the sensitive flavor) is a non-irritating soap, and also can build a lather that is good enough to shave with.

BIC single blade razors usually cost about 20 to 30 cents, each. This makes them the equivalent of 40 to 60 cents for a double edge blade, so they are no threat to DE blades on cost. But they are cheaper than an octopus razor.

I agree. If you add a few drops of water to the mousse, it will make it slicker.
 
Top Bottom